Meter-box.



A. BUGBEE. METER Box.

APPLIATlON FILED AUG.18. |9I6.

Patente'dSept. 3,

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ALVIN- BUGBEE, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

METER-BOX.

Leraars.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 3, 1918.

Application filed August 18, 1,916. Serial No. 115,685.

To all whom t may concerns:

Be it known that I, ALVIN BUGnn, aA citizen of the United States, andresident of the city of Trenton, county of Mercer, and State lof NewJersey, yhave invented certain new and useful Improvements inMeter-Boxes, of which the following is Ia speciication.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in meter boxes.

The object of my invention is to provide -a meter box with a cover orlid which can,

with minimum elfo'rt, be opened or closed,`

locked or unlocked, and, when unlocked, simultaneously lifted from itsseat to facilitate removal by hand. One of the principal objects is toprovide a box with a cover which may be so opened when covered withice'. A further object is simplicity and economy of construction.

In the drawings I have shown a meter box intended to be constructed intwo sections, the lower section being here omitted. Figure 1 is a topview of the box with the lid removed; Fig. is a similar view of the lid;Fig. 3 is a perspective of the lever attached to the under side of thelid; Fig. l is a section on the line #1 1 of Fig. l; and Fig. 5 is asection on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 is the body of the box which hasan upward extension 2, within the upper part of which and Hush with itsrim is the lid 3. Both body and extension, in this instance, arecircular, although my invention may be adapted to other forms. On theinner surface of the upward extension are two lugs 4-4, oppositelydisposed, for supporting the lid. In the saine plane with these lugs aretwo other lugs, 55, also oppositely disposed, which are intended tocoperate with the lirst mentioned lugs for supporting the lid; but theyhave an additional function, each of them being provided with twodownward extensions 6 6, upon which the ends of the lever 7 attached tothe lid ride when the latter is lowered into or lifted from its seat.The lid 3 has an aperture 8 within which is a bolt 9 attached to thelever 7 by screw and thread or in any other suitable manner. The bolt 9has a squared or many sided head 1() for holding it to the lid and alsofor operating the lever with a key. The lever 7 is of such proportionallength that when the lid is on its seat its ends will ride upon thedownward extensions 6-6 of the lugs 5--5, as already indicated; and tofacilitate the ends of the lever riding upon the inclined portions ofsaid lugs, the sides of the lever are beveled downwardly as at 11-11 inFig. 3, making the ends where they ride upon the lugs triangular or Vshaped in cross-section. The lid 3 is preferably cupshaped at 12 tofacilitate the use of a key upon the head of the bolt 9, the top of thelatter being Hush with the top of the lid `3. Beneath each of the lugs41% is a lug 13, so placed that when the lid is on its seat the lever 7will move under the saine, thereby locking the lid against removal untilthe lever is turned for withdrawal therefrom. At the intersection of thebody 1 with its upward extension 2 is a flange 14 grooved at 15 as aseat for the circular inner cover 15, for convenience in handling whicha knob 16 is provided. The lower portion of the body 1 is provided withflanges 17 and 18, and also with two oppositely positioned lugs 19 forholding the upper section of the box to the lower section.

The operation is as follows. Assuming that the upper section here shownhas been connected with a lower section to form the usual meter box, andthat the lid is to be seated, the latter is positioned so that one ofthe ends of the lever 7 will rest upon one of the inclined portions 6 ofthe lugs 5; the other end of the lever will, consequently, fall upon oneof the inclined portions of the vopposite lug. A slight movement of thelever by rotation ofthe bolt 9 will cause the lever to descend to apoint below the plane of the bottom of the lugs 13. The lever may thenbe turned under the lugs 13, thereby locking the lid to the box, asshown in Fig. 5. The lid is unlocked and released from the lugs 13 byrotation of the lever in either direction, and, in riding up thedownward extensions 6-6 of the lugs 5-5 will carry with it the lid 3 andraise the latter above the top of the box. It is obvious that thismovement of the lever will cause the lid to break loose from the boxwhen the parts Yare bound to each other by frost.

`That I claim is:

1. The combination with the side wall of a box, of a lid, inclined lugson the inner surface of the side wall, and a lever pivoted to the lidand cooper-ating with said lugs for lifting the lid above the top of theside wall.

2. The lcombination with a side wall of a box, of a lid, supporting lugsfor the lid on the inner surface of the side Wall, a. part of -said lugsbeing inclined, and a lever connected to said lid to raise the latter incooperation with the inclined lugs.

3. The combination with the side Wall of a box, of a lid, supportinglugs on the inner surface of the side Wall, a part oi' said lugs beinginclined, a lever connected to said lid to 'raise the latter incoperation with the inclined lugs, and additional means on the innersurface of 'the side wall for locking the lid against displacement.

4. The combination with a side wall of a box7 of a lid, inclined lugs onthe inner surface of the side Wall, and a lever pivoted to the lid andcooperating With said lugs to raise the lid above the top of the sideWall, the ends of said lever being beveled to correspond with Itlieinclination of saidlugs.

5. The combination with a side Wall of a box, of a lid, inclined lugs onthe inner surface of the side Wall, a lever pivoted to the lid andcoperating with said lugs to raise the lid labove the top of the SideWall7 'the ends of said lever being beveled to correspond with Itlieinclination of said lugs, and separate means ior locking the lid againstdisplacement.

ALV-IN BUGBEE.

Copies pi' this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of latents Washington, D. C.

